More and more agents are thinking about working with professional employer organizations and human resources outsourcing companies.
There are many reasons to do so: Partnering with a PEO increases retention of clients; introduces a new revenue stream to the agent (with increased commissions); creates a differentiation from other agencies; positions the agent as a true trusted advisor for their clients; expands the universe of prospects for the agency; and, most importantly, brings a business solution to the true business problems of companies.
In fact, more and more agents are competing for clients leveraging this burgeoning industry relationship.
But how do you protect yourself as an agent? How do you make sure the interests of your clients, in addition to your own vested interests, are protected? For the answers to these questions, we first need to look at some of the history behind these growing industries.
HROs represent a very broad category of businesses, which provide single or multiple functions for client firms. This can range from payroll companies to firms that handle virtually all human resource requirements. HROs, which handle multiple HR functions, can be broken down further to firms which handle those functions on an "administrative services only" basis, and PEOs, which deliver such services by acting as a co-employer to the client firm's employees and providing payroll under the PEO's employer ID number.
Co-employment permits PEOs to deliver services more efficiently, as the PEO acts as a single source to aggregate many HR functions. Further, the PEO can aggregate many forms of insurance under master policies, which can also reduce administrative expenses.
PEOs and insurance agents have traditionally been competitors. When a PEO engaged with a client company, the agent would typically lose the workers' compensation, employment practices liability coverage, health insurance and the 401(k) business. In the late 90s, this traditional competition between insurance agents and PEOs began to change when a small number of PEOs recognized that insurance agents were a cost-efficient marketing channel.
The trend of PEOs contracting with insurance agents has accelerated in the last several years. Commission arrangements and contract terms continue to differ greatly. Agents looking to contract with a PEO should be aware of the fact that most PEOs do not understand the culture of the agency system. As a result, PEOs and insurance agents often fail to communicate, as each party attaches different meanings to contract terms and policy statements.
Points to consider prior to executing a contract and referring clients to a PEO:
1. Is the PEO accredited? There are more than 700 PEOs in the United States. They range from small mom-and-pop offices to large, publicly traded firms. Before referring a client to a PEO, the insurance agent needs to find out if the PEO is financially sound.
There is no rating system of PEOs. The Employer Services Assurance Corp., Little Rock, Ark., however, is an accreditation agency that imposes higher financial, auditing and operating standards than are imposed by any state requirements. ESAC also provides financial guarantee surety bonds to all of the clients of its accredited PEOs. Verification of a PEO's accreditation can be obtained at the ESAC Web site (www.esacorp.org). There has never been a failure of any ESAC-accredited PEO. There now are 23 accredited PEOs in the United States.
2. Does the PEO provide E&O coverage for an insurance agent? Some PEOs do. It's an important point to research.
